


a harsh lie

by Echo (Lyrecho)



Series: tomonari final remix [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Namine Has Sad Feelings And I Support Her, Namine-centric, Oneshot, Proof This Series Will Have Wildly Varying Wordcounts, Tomonari Final Remix, Weird Meta Stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 01:13:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20685041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Echo
Summary: "You didn't really think this boy was Sora, did you?"|Tumblr||Twitter|





	a harsh lie

> Once upon a time, there was a mirror.
> 
> Silver and pure, it reflected faithfully and truly, shining back always at the ones that stood before it their own image. People smiled before the mirror. People scowled, cried, laughed and pouted - and the mirror showed them this.
> 
> Then, one day, a woman came to stand before the mirror. She frowned, and the mirror reflected the lines that tugged on her face.
> 
> "Aren't you tired of it?" The woman asked.
> 
> The mirror was shocked; no-one had ever spoken to it before. No-one had ever even tried. "Tired of what?" It asked the woman curiously.
> 
> The woman leaned forward, so her nose was nearly touching the silvered glass, and then, eye to eye, both she and her reflection smiled. "Tired of being a liar," she said.
> 
> On the mirror's surface, a crack formed. It was a small, barely there fracture, a mar on the otherwise perfect surface – but it was there nonetheless.
> 
> "...Liar?" The mirror said. "I am a mirror. I cannot lie."
> 
> "You reflect the truth of the body," the woman said. "You show the lies that mask the truth of the heart." Her smile widened. Her reflection’s did too.
> 
> "See?" she laughed, and flicked a finger out to tap against the mirror's surface. "You're lying again, straight to my face."
> 
> The crack splintered larger as the mirror paused, confused. "I don't understand," it said.
> 
> "Of course you don't." The woman's words were gentle, pitying. "You're only a mirror, after all - a fake, you only show the truths that run skin deep."
> 
> "The truth is the truth," the mirror insisted. "No matter how shallow; I do not lie."
> 
> "Maybe not," the woman allowed. "Maybe you only aid others in lying to their own hearts." Her palm laid flat against the glass of the mirror, and her reflection reciprocated, pressing its hand against the image of hers. "In the end, it doesn't really matter," she sighed. "A harsh truth is always better than a gentle lie."
> 
> The fracture had become a spider’s web of cracks, and now the woman's reflection was splintered, looking over her with an image of a thousand betrayed eyes. "Why?" the mirror asked. "I only ever gave people what they asked of me. I only ever gave them what they wanted."
> 
> "And you did an admirable job of that," the woman said. "But people can't always get what they want. It's time to rid the world of your gentle lies, and give them back the  _ truth _ that they need."
> 
> The story ends there. There are many endings that follow the last passage, thought up by many different people, over many ages. Scholars and children and adults, all arguing over which ending is the truth, over which viewpoint is better - over what the moral of the story was.
> 
> The truth of it, really, is that there is no moral, no correct answer. A story is a story, nothing more and nothing less - and whether or not that story is true, well, that's up to those who hear it, now isn't it?
> 
> But if given the choice, which is it that you would choose to take?
> 
> The gentle lie, or the harsh truth?

* * *

The World That Never Was was about the same as Namine remembered it, second-hand from Roxas' memories. She'd never been to the Nobody world herself, not in person - locked away in Castle Oblivion from the moment Xemnas had found her, confused and scared at Hollow Bastion.

To her mild surprise, the portal Xemnas had opened did not lead straight into the Castle That Never Was, but rather one of the backstreets that were scattered across the sprawling, patchwork ghost city that clustered around the heart of the Organization's safe haven - fragmented pieces of worlds fallen to the Darkness that had made their way here, one way or another, to form a dark and silent metropolis, the city reflecting the nature of the people that called it 'home' - empty, always yearning to be made whole again.

Riku had found his way here, once, she knew - it was how he had managed to catch Roxas in the first place. But this world was like Twilight Town, Traverse Town, a liminal space, a nexus connecting one place to another; except not, because those worlds actually existed. This Nobody home world was a physical dreamscape at best, and without Namine guiding Riku by linking to Roxas - he would never find his way back here.

She walked silently, docilely, by Xemnas' side. He still held Sora, and therefore all the cards. "What is it you want me to do?" She asked quietly, as the entrance to the castle loomed before them.

"How much of his memory have you repaired?" Xemnas asked in return, and Namine blinked at the query.

"Almost all of it," she answered honestly, seeing no reason to risk angering him by lying for something so small, so seemingly insignificant.

"Almost?"

"He doesn’t have the memories that Roxas held; I hadn't thought it necessary to give those links back when he would gain them naturally once they were mended."

Xemnas laughed. " _ Mended _ ," he said. "A pretty word, to hide just how desperate you were to get the  _ Keyblade Master _ ," his voice twisted the title into something crude, sarcastic, and Namine had never heard that kind of tone in Xemnas' voice before; the man was normally unflappable, "back and whole once more." He shook his head. "Desperate enough to erase two lives. For Riku, I could see it - the boy is confused, fighting against and welcoming darkness in equal measure; his entire being is split. And that old man - he hates us, purely and strongly. Likely, he never saw either of them as anything but obstacles. But you? You, Namine, I would have expected more kindness from."

The words themselves are concerned, but Xemnas’ tone is nothing but venom, and Namine couldn’t help the stab of fear that bled through her, because she knew that the only purpose behind whatever message he just tried to send is hurting her. She blinked, pausing at the brightly lit stairs that led up past the entrance hall and into the castle proper. "Kindness?" She parroted back. "Two? I - I don't understand."

It was hard to admit that, especially since it now put her even more firmly under Xemnas' control; with him leading the conversation and their direction, but something about his mannerisms had a sinking pit forming in her gut, had her palms sweating as she gazed up at him, already stairs above and ahead of her, not bothering to stop for her sake.

"You mean you hadn't figured it out?" He called down. "And when you should know better than anybody, for  _ shame _ , Namine." He grinned at her over his shoulders, a quick glance back. "You didn't  _ really _ think this boy was Sora, now did you?"


End file.
